


Wished crossroads

by Irisinally



Series: Following Pyxis [1]
Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Spoilers of SoR, and event seox's FE, like i use his real name a lot here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23028082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irisinally/pseuds/Irisinally
Summary: Their dad had disappeared for a few months. This wasn't really surprising, he had always been adventurous and couldn't stay in the same place for too long.The surprising part was that he returned with another kid in tow.(Or, what if Seox got a new family after the massacre?)
Relationships: Gran & Djeeta & Six | Seox
Series: Following Pyxis [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655008
Comments: 1
Kudos: 70





	Wished crossroads

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm fairly new to gbf, but i fell in love with Seox in this event and Vyrn's words about their father having brought Seox home when they were younger made me write all this... This is now a series btw. Apparently, I suck at short stories.   
> Anyway, BE AWARE THAT THERE ARE SPOILERS about Seox's real name here. I can't call him Seox when he wasn't an Eternal yet, can I? I call him Xing for now. Also, the twins are around 6 at the start and Seox is around 10, close to 11.

Their father had been missing for a few months now. It wasn't surprising; their father had always been a free spirit, an adventurer. Gran and Djeeta used to pester him until he relented and told them stories about the other isles floating in the sky, about the people living in them, about the different cultures and races and legends. In those moments, their father's eyes shone with wonder and nostalgia. 

In hindsight, it was a long time coming. 

At first, Gran and Djeeta had panicked. Maybe. A bit. Vyrn said that they panicked a lot. Vyrn was a liar. 

In any case, living alone wasn't as difficult as they had expected. Vyrn could be helpful from time to time, if only to be the voice of reason that the two of them lacked, seeing as they were still quite young. The neighbours usually helped them and taught them how to cook simple dishes. Djeeta could burn even water, but Gran ended up being the most patient twin and could cook decently. 

And so, the days passed, one after another, until their father had been gone for a little over three months. 

Djeeta and Gran didn't say it out loud, but they started wondering if their father would return at all. 

Nobody commented on the tears that fell from time to time in the middle of the night. Not Gran, not Djeeta, not Vyrn. 

With every day that passed, with every glance at the empty horizon, they lost hope. They still hadn't touched the closed door to their father's study. They had been close, all three of them, but they always took a step back. 

Until one day, Vyrn almost knocked the table over when he sped through the door, yelling about someone being back. 

For a long moment, Gran and Djeeta only stared at him from where they had been arguing over lunch. They stared and stared until they processed his words and finally ran from their little house, tripping over each other and shoving the other to the side and grumbling with their chests light with relief. Their father was back, he was back, he hadn't abandoned them to chase after a dream-

They could see their father's silhouette getting closer. His steps were slow and calm, as if he had all the time in the world. He was okay. He wasn't hurt. 

Gran and Djeeta ran to him, with wide smiles on their faces and clear laughter bumbling in their throats. As soon as they were close enough, they jumped and latched on his legs with enough strength to make their father stumble and chuckle. 

"Why did you leave so suddenly?" complained Djeeta, hiding her face on her father's side. Gran nodded from his other side. 

"Sorry, sorry, there was an emergency, I had to act fast," replied their father. 

Djeeta and Gran crossed glances, confused, and took a step back to look up at their father's face. They could hear Vyrn's indignant yells about having left him behind, but then the twins finally noticed the lump on their father's back. 

"Emergency?" repeated Gran, voice soft and eyes still focused on the lump. It was wrapped tightly in a blanket, but if they turned slightly, they could see something that looked like hands-

"Hey, wake up, there's someone who wants to meet you," was their father's answer, soft, patient, but still amused, like when he taught them swordsmanship. He bounced the lump on his back slightly. 

Immediately, the lump  _ moved _ . Djeeta and Gran startled and hesitantly took another step back, eyes wide. Their father was still relaxed and amused, so it couldn't be anything bad, but-

The blanket moved and two black-tipped ears came up, twitching until the blanket was completely off them. Then came a head of messy grey hair that reminded Djeeta of a storm cloud. And then, a frightening mask with red eyes. Gran swallowed his cry and Djeeta hid her mouth behind her hands, eyes wide. Vyrn stopped in his tracks. 

The other kid jumped slightly and hid under the blanket again. 

Their father only laughed. 

\----

The new kid - who their father had called Xing - didn't come out of his new room for  _ days _ . 

At first, Gran and Djeeta had been too excited to have their father back to pay him much mind. He must have been tired after the long journey, he just needed to rest for a while. Their father fit into their new routines perfectly, as if he hadn't left in the first place, so Gran and Djeeta started playing more outside, with or without their practice swords as their father dealt with the house in their stead. They still helped; of course they helped! But an adult could do much more than two little kids and a tiny dragon. 

Their father usually left some food at the door of Xing's room. Gran and Djeeta had tried to wait until he opened the door, if only to get another peek at him, but they always got bored and left before they could see him. The next time they went, the food was gone. 

After a week of no movements, Gran noticed how their father looked more and more at the closed door with increasingly worried eyes. He wasted no time whispering what he had seen to his twin and both of them concluded that Xing couldn't just be tired from the journey. It had been more than a week already! 

But they didn't know how to help. Their father didn't know either, if they had to guess from the failed attempts to get into the room, knocking on the door and asking with a soft voice. Vyrn was the one that pushed them to at least  _ try _ , they wouldn't know if they didn't even  _ try _ . 

So Gran, Djeeta and Vyrn started their night meetings, when their father was already sleeping or taking a stroll through the forest. They sat on their respective beds, facing each other with serious faces, and planned. 

Their plans weren't exactly detailed. In truth, the only thing they had clear was that they needed to get into the room in a way that wouldn't spook the other kid. Djeeta was of the firm belief that they could get in through the window. Vyrn was pretty sure that they could bribe him with sweets so he would get out himself. Gran was more diplomatic and proposed to just… Talk with him through the door. Tell him funny stories and anecdotes, maybe even stories from their father or village. 

"This isn't going anywhere," complained Vyrn after three meetings of arguing and childish pouts. 

Gran and Djeeta looked away from the other with a huff. 

\----

After a few hours of complaining to their father, he finally agreed to teach them some more swordsmanship in the garden. 

It had always been fun, as long as they treated it like some kind of game. Their father made sure of that. Their swords were made of wood and as long as no one bashed the sword on the other's head, it wouldn't really hurt much. The swords would break sooner than their skulls. 

In the middle of a mock battle between them, Djeeta stopped in her tracks, which gave Gran the opportunity to tackle her to the ground and point his sword at her unprotected neck with a victorious cry and wide smile. Djeeta glared at her brother shortly, before frowning and looking around. 

She was quite sure that someone was watching them. 

It couldn't be their father. After giving them a few pointers, he had left to do the shopping and probably help some merchants with their products in exchange of information. Vyrn was napping on top of the rocky fence, so it wasn't him either. That left… 

Djeeta moved her head slightly to one side, acting as if she was shaking leafs off from her hair, just in time to catch movement from Xing's window. But, by the time she looked properly, the shadow she had seen before was gone. She huffed, irritated. 

"What is it?" asked Gran, still on top of her, smile shining with satisfaction. Djeeta had always been faster and more agile where Gran had been stronger, if only slower. 

"I think Xing was watching us," she said, voice little more than a whisper. Gran hummed. 

"Think we should try talking to him?" he asked, voice much more subsided. "I mean, he's definitely awake right now."

"Let's go," nodded Djeeta, a determined glint in her eyes.

Both of them stood up from the grass with slow movements, patting their clothes to clean them as best as they could and leaning their swords against the fence where Vyrn was still sleeping. They shared a glance. Should they wake him up? Vyrn was usually helpful, but something told them that Vyrn's loud voice would only make Xing nervous. 

So they walked quietly towards the window. They couldn't hear anything from inside. The only sound around them was the sound of the wind. 

"Xing, you're there, aren't you?" called Djeeta, voice as cheery as she could make it without being too loud. 

"We just want to talk," continued Gran, softer. Djeeta smiled widely. 

"Yeah, let's be friends!" she said. 

Silence. 

And then… 

"... Friends?" The voice was soft and low, but they could still hear behind the glass and curtains. 

Djeeta and Gran crossed excited and hopeful glances. 

"Yes! Friends!" repeated Djeeta. Then she paused. "Or maybe even siblings. Dad brought you here, after all, and you're living with us too…" 

"... Siblings?" repeated again Xing, this time even softer than before. Gran frowned. 

"Are you okay?" he called. He jumped and braced his arms on the windowsill. 

"That's right, why don't you come out?" continued Djeeta, frowning too. There was something… _sad_ , about Xing's voice. They didn't like it. 

Xing was silent for a few seconds, and for a moment Gran and Djeeta worried that he hadn't understood them. They had seen cat ears on his head, that meant he was a… an erune, right? 

"It's hard," came Xing's voice. 

"Why?" asked Djeeta, tilting her head to the side. 

"I…" Xing seemed to be searching for words. "I did something bad… Something I shouldn't have… And yet your father saved me, even though he should have just…" 

Djeeta and Gran crossed glances. 

"I don't really get it," started Djeeta, voice careful, "but if dad saved you, then that means that you're a good person!" 

"He even brought you here to live with us," nodded Gran, a soft smile on his face as he kicked his feet in the air from his perch on the windowsill. "That also means he trusts you."

"Trust…" mumbled Xing. There was shuffling from inside. 

"So, can we talk face-to-face, now?" asked Djeeta, unable to hide her excitement as she bounced on her feet, hands behind her back. "Pretty please?" 

"You don't have to come out yet if you don't want to," added Gran. His smile widened. "But we really wanna get to know you!" 

There was silence for a few more seconds, before the shuffling started again, this time closer. And closer. 

The curtains were pushed aside and a pale hand reached out from inside the room to open the latch and open the windows. Gran and Djeeta beamed at the boy that stood on the other side. He still had the same messy grey hair, the same pointy ears that twitched because of the wind that entered the room, the same frightening mask covering his face. 

But they could finally talk in person, and that was enough for now. 

"Nice to meet you, Xing!" chirped both twins. 

\----

Xing didn't talk much, to be honest, but now everytime one of the twins knocked on his windows, he didn't hesitate to open. The twins were usually the ones that talked - or more like ranted - about anything that happened in the village, its people or their father's adventures. They didn't try to get information about him. Even if they couldn't see his face, everytime they came close to the topic, Xing tensed and curled his shoulders forward, as if he was hiding. Or bracing himself. 

Their father could also talk with him, all smiles and grins and soft jokes and Xing sometimes answered back with an even softer voice. 

Vyrn still freaked him out, if only because Vyrn was an oddity, he was a dragon - not a lizard! - and he tended to talk too loud. Djeeta found it funny how Xing's ears always twitched at the volume of Vyrn's voice but Gran glared at the dragon until he calmed down and spoke in a normal tone of voice. 

Three weeks after their father's return and Xing's arrival at their home, Xing finally came out of his room to have breakfast. 

He still wore his mask over his face. He only tilted it slightly to the side so he could eat, but he was out. He was out and talking to them, if only a little! 

"Let's go! We can give you a tour of the village!" chirped Djeeta, grabbing Xing's arm and ignoring how he flinched at it. Gran sighed. 

"Wait, wait, sis, we should take it slow for now," he said, reaching out and messing Djeeta's hair. She pouted and released Xing to tame her hair. 

"Fine," she huffed. Her disappointment didn't last for long and she grinned again. "Then we can play in the garden! There are a lot of trees we can climb!" 

"Do you even know if he likes climbing trees?" chuckled Gran and he winked at Xing. 

"Who  _ doesn't  _ like climbing trees?" she asked, serious. Completely serious. 

Xing snorted. 

Djeeta  _ beamed _ . 

They ended up climbing the different trees around the garden under Vyrn's watchful gaze. It didn't come as a surprise that Xing was the faster climber. Djeeta compared him to a cat between giggles. 

Still, there was something interesting about his movements. The twins couldn't put a name to it, but the way Xing moved seemed too agile, too calculated, too fast. Was that just how Erunes were? Or had he been trained? And if that was the case, trained for what? 

Gran, Djeeta and Vyrn decided not to pry. Just in case. 

\----

A week after that, Gran and Djeeta heard voices coming from outside in the middle of the night.

Vyrn was sleeping like a rock, snoring almost as loud as their father after a few beers, so they didn’t bother waking him up as they crossed glances and left their room to explore. 

They’d been living at that house as long as they remembered, so they knew perfectly well which floorboards creaked under their feet so they could avoid them and be as silent as they could. As they got closer, they started to recognize the voices. A sigh of relief passed through their lips when they learned that it was just their father talking with Xing. 

It was still interesting, so they creeped up to the front door. Their father and Xing were just on the other side, talking in hushed mumbles. Gran and Djeeta knew that their father liked to gaze up at the night sky on some nights. They didn’t know why, but Vyrn said that he was probably reminiscing about his past adventures. Still, for Xing to be awake and out of bed at that hour… Was everything okay?

“Why don’t you like it?” asked their father. His voice, while quiet, seemed surprised. 

Gran and Djeeta crossed glances again with worry. Had they done something wrong? Had they pushed him too much? They didn’t know much about the older boy’s past, but they knew enough to deduce that it wasn’t pretty. They had seen a few pale scars on his wrists, maybe some on his neck. That felt as if someone had dumped freezing water on their heads.

“It… it reminds me of…” mumbled back Xing, “... of back there. I don’t-”

“But you’re not there anymore, are you?” mumbled back their father, and his voice was as soft as it always was when one of them had a nightmare. “You’re here with us. You’re not alone. But,” their father sighed, “if you want to change your name, I can’t stop you.” Then his voice took on a disappointed tone. “Your name is really nice, though. It has a really nice meaning, too.”

“Meaning?” repeated Xing, confused. Gran and Djeeta pressed their ears closer to the door with excitement bumbling in their chests. 

“Yes, Xing means ‘light’, more specifically,” explained their father and there was the rustle of cloth as he moved, “‘the beautiful light twinkling brightly in the night sky’.”

Djeeta grinned widely and Gran smiled softly as the silence reigned over the conversation for a few minutes. Both twins knew that Xing was probably thinking it over and, silently, they both hoped that he would keep his name. 

There was some more shuffling from the other side of the door.

“I think…” whispered Xing, “I think I’ll keep my name, then.”

Without waiting for their father’s response, Gran and Djeeta shared a grin and sped back to their room with shining eyes.

\----

After a month and a half of living together, they finally figured out that Xing was actually a few years older than them. 

It had been difficult to know, really. Xing only took off his mask to sleep - or, well, they hoped so - and he was pretty skinny to start with. He had gained some weight even since he finally came out of his room, if only because Djeeta kept pushing the food she didn't like onto his plate and Xing didn't complain. 

In any case, Xing wasn't that much older than them. Maybe four years or so. When they asked, he always got quiet. Djeeta could swear that there was a black cloud hanging over him. So they stopped asking for his age or his birthday and just decided between the three of them - Vyrn, Gran and Djeeta - that they would choose a random day and just celebrate his birthday as a surprise. 

It didn't take long for them to learn that Xing's past before he was saved by their father was taboo. Xing didn't talk about it and they learned not to ask about it. If he wanted to tell them one day, then they would support him however they could, but it was still his choice. If they didn't see him struggling too much with its weight, that is. 

They also learned that Xing had quite some trouble dealing with people. 

The villagers were cheerful and gentle and helpful, always with smiles on their faces - minus some cases the twins didn't want to deal with. And yet, the first time they guided Xing to the village proper and started introducing him to people, Xing just… tried to hide. It wasn't very successful, because the twins were a head shorter than him, but that didn't stop Xing as he adjusted his mask for the hundredth time with shaking hands. 

But Djeeta, Gran and Vyrn didn't give up. 

The villagers were mostly considerate and understanding. Their father had explained a bit of the situation to them, which was the reason why none of the villagers had come to visit for a while. 

They decided to take it slow, just like before, when Xing didn't leave his room. They introduced him to some people, carefully, with patience, and Xing was trying and actually willing to go with it, so hey! Not bad! 

Still, the twins were curious about his face. 

\----

"Hey, Xing!" called Djeeta while they were sprawled on the grass behind their home after having a few races to determine who could climb three trees faster. Of course, the winner was Xing. "Can I try on your mask?" 

Unsurprisingly, Xing tensed. 

"Why?" he asked. At least his voice didn't shake. 

"Because it's really cool!" grinned Djeeta. She rolled to look at him with shining eyes and a wide smile. 

"You just want to look like one of those legendary warriors from those stories dad liked to tell us before bed," snorted Gran, catching on to his sister's plan. 

Xing remained quiet. 

"C'mon, Xing, please!" drawled Djeeta, throwing her arms in the air to touch the clouds. 

Xing sighed quietly. 

"Fine," he said, voice as soft as always. Djeeta let out a loud 'whoop' and sat up on her knees, grass sticking to her hair. Xing sat up too and absentmindedly reached out with a hand to get the grass out of her hair. He reached out behind his own head with his free hand. "But be careful with it, okay?" 

"Yes, of course I will, big bro Xing!" chirped Djeeta. Her hands reached out restlessly for the mask that wasn't even off yet, excited. 

Xing faltered for a moment when he heard Djeeta's words and Gran's quiet and fond chuckle, but he finally took off his mask with careful movements and put it on Djeeta's small hands. Djeeta's attention focused first on the mask in her hands, before she looked up at Xing's lowered head with a wide grin. 

"Thank you!" she chirped and reached out to mess his hair with a hand, before trying to get the mask over her face without stabbing her eyes. 

Xing startled and raised his head with wide blue eyes to blink at Djeeta. Gran looked curiously at him for a moment, before he finally turned to his twin again, just in time to hear her mumble to herself as she tried to put on the mask with little success. Gran chuckled, but didn't move from his sprawled out position on the ground. 

As Djeeta continued struggling with the string and the too-big mask, Xing sighed, a sigh that hid softness and fondness, and reached out with careful hands and twitching ears to stop Djeeta from breaking the mask or hurting herself. 

"Be more careful, you're doing it wrong," he mumbled. 

As Xing carefully moved away her hands from her face, Djeeta blinked at him with curious eyes. They hadn’t seen his face in the month and a half that he’d been living with them, after all. And they had never seen an Erune before, either. But what attracted her gaze the most was his eyes, a light blue similar to the sky, and which seemed haunted by something they couldn’t see, they seemed sad, cautious. For a moment, Djeeta glanced at Gran with a grimace she hoped Xing wouldn’t see, worried. 

But the next time she glanced at Xing’s eyes, she finally saw softness, maybe happiness? She couldn’t be sure, but she hoped that was it. 

In any case, as she sped through the garden with his mask on, arms outstretched as if she was a bird flying through the blue sky, she could feel her brother’s- her brothers’ gazes on her, fond and amused. It was nice to finally see Xing’s face, she thought. And she knew that her twin thought the same. 

Their new mission was to get Xing to at least take off his mask when they were alone.

\----

The weeks passed until they turned into months. 

They had managed to get into some kind of routine. Xing still didn’t really like dealing with people, as nice as the villagers were, so it was usually Gran and Djeeta the ones to go shopping for food. Their father always gave them enough money to also buy sweets. Gran had his suspicious that this was because Xing had commented once that he’d never had sweets before, which had made Djeeta flip. 

While the twins were shopping, guided by Vyrn, their father helped train Xing. 

The twins were quite young, yes, but they weren’t stupid, so they had caught both of them talking in hushed tones quite a few times. They didn’t know what they were saying, but Xing always looked sad and hurt. Their father did his best to cheer him up with soft smiles, but the shadow was always there. They could notice it. Some days it was less noticeable, but other days it hung like a weight over Xing’s head and Djeeta, Gran and Vyrn had to try thrice as hard to make Xing smile, if only a little. 

Those training sessions always seemed to help, anyway. After them, Xing looked… relieved? That was the closest word they could think of, which was weird, because the twins always felt tired after those sessions, even if they were more like a game for them. They didn’t comment on it, just in case. Xing’s past was still a touchy subject and the few times they’d asked their father, he always said that they were too young to know. That was stupid, thought Gran. Xing was only a few years older than them and he had gone through something horrible. 

Djeeta and Vyrn continued to pester Xing about his mask. The boy always relented and gave it to them, if only to see them smile, thought Gran, which only made him smile wider. In those moments when Xing didn’t have his mask on, he always became more quiet and a faint dust of pink would appear on his cheeks, but he was becoming more used to their presence and to talking with them without his mask. 

They continued climbing trees, they continued reading stories together, they taught Xing how to read better in their language (because apparently it wasn’t his mother language), they made little trips to the village and they even explored part of the forest with Vyrn’s help. 

It was nice. 

They were a happy and peaceful family.

Until their father left again. 

And this time, they knew that it was definitive, because when they walked into the kitchen that morning, they saw an envelope with his signature, a letter that told them how he was going on an adventure so he could tell them new stories. 

Gran and Djeeta didn’t say anything, neither did Vyrn. But they crossed conflicted and resigned smiles. 

Xing’s mouth, now visible without his mask, turned into a thin and pale line. 

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, who *doesn't* like climbing trees?


End file.
